


hold me close

by sincerelysobbe



Series: Skam Bingo Event (2020) [2]
Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Fluff, Hugs, Kissing, M/M, Robbe is stressed af, Sander Comforts Robbe, Tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 10:27:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23969836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sincerelysobbe/pseuds/sincerelysobbe
Summary: Robbe is stressed because of a test and Sander comforts him.
Relationships: Sander Driesen/Robbe IJzermans
Series: Skam Bingo Event (2020) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1657429
Comments: 6
Kudos: 157





	hold me close

**Author's Note:**

> This is my work for the comfort square of the BINGO card. I know it’s been a while since I’ve managed to complete one of these (the Friends with Benefit prompt in my drafts is screaming), but my recent battle with my own stress in terms of my math test(s) managed to manifest itself into Robbe being stressed about a math test so *shrugs*. But, I hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> (don’t worry, it’s only 2k words)

Robbe had been eerily quiet all day. He hadn’t even responded to Sander’s message about how his test had gone today. 

Sander knew that his boyfriend was studying for his upcoming finals. When he focused on schoolwork and especially on studying, he always tended to be silent anyway. But, Sander had a feeling that crawled beneath his skin and made his stomach sink. With every short text back, his stomach only continued to sink further in the pit of his stomach and his brain was focused on Robbe, not on the piece in front of him. By the time that lunch had hit and Robbe had only responded to him briefly, Sander was worried. Robbe always threw himself too far into his studying tactics and Sander knew the toll that it took on him.

Pulling out his phone, sitting across from Noor in the café, he saw that Robbe hadn’t responded and his fingers moved to his chat with Jens, the one that he rarely used, and he sent him a text.

Sander:  _ Is Robbe okay? _

It didn’t take long to respond. 

Jens:  _ He’s definitely stressed. He went home after today’s test to study some more. _

Jens:  _ He’s got his math test tomorrow, I think. _

Sander:  _ Okay, I just haven’t heard from him. _

Sander:  _ How did your tests go? _

Jens:  _ Mine went okay. And, don’t worry. I’m sure he’s just studying _ .

But, he was worried. 

Especially since his math test was tomorrow. 

In their late-night calls, in which Sander would spend the majority of the time either drawing Robbe or trying to convince him to sleep, Robbe had mentioned that this math exam was on Thursday and how nervous he was for it. Even between all of his other studying, he would stop working on whatever subject and switch to math. When the problem wasn’t behaving like he wanted to, he would get frustrated and upset and all Sander could do was watch from another side of the screen, try to calm him down and remind him that he needed to take a step back. 

Sander:  _ Are we still meeting for a little bit after class? _

When Sander had checked his phone, before the start of his final class for the day, he saw that his message hadn’t been read. As soon as his final class had dismissed them, Sander was already half-packed up, portfolio under his arm, and out of the room without hesitation. Normally, he hung around and talked to his professor or the model, sometimes until Robbe would come in and pull him out. But, Robbe wasn’t standing out in the hallway and his bike wasn’t locked up in their place. 

Without thinking, just worried about him, his feet took him in the direction of Robbe’s apartment. It wasn’t far from his school, maybe a little out of his way to his house, and he was halfway up the stairs to the building when he nearly ran over Robbe’s mom, who was headed out of the building and ruffling through her purse, in his haste to make sure Robbe wasn’t pushing himself. The woman was dressed for work, or maybe she had just gotten home from work, her long brown curls pulled up in a ponytail, and she beamed up with him in a smile that Robbe had inherited. 

“Sander!” the woman spoke cheerily. “Robbe’s up in his room. He’s studying for his test. Are you staying long? I’m going to the store and then I’ll make us all dinner!”

“I don’t know,” Sander admitted, feeling anxious and restless to get to Robbe. “But, dinner sounds wonderful.” 

“Okay, well, you know where the spare key is. I’ll be back soon.”

Then, the woman was gone, turning the bend to the store, and Sander was racing across the lobby to the stairs, taking them two-at-a-time. The IJzermans apartment was on the second floor, right by the stairs. As soon as Sander reached the door, the brass 26 shining on the front, he fished out the spare key from the garden pot outside the door, where he had put it the last time he was over, and opened the front door with ease.

His eyes lingered on the familiar surroundings of Robbe’s brown jacket on the hook, his tennis shoes on the floor beneath it, and his keys on the table. Sander toed off his black converse, his eyes darting down the hallway to Robbe’s open room, and placed his portfolio on the floor beside it. As he shrugged off the lightweight jacket that he had worn in place of his leather jacket, moving to hang it beside Robbe’s, he heard the floorboards creak beneath his weight and Robbe say, “Mama? Did you forget something?” 

Robbe stepped out into the hallway, running a hand through his messy hair, and Sander felt his heart break a little. 

His boyfriend’s eyes were tired and worn. Even beneath the green hoodie that hung on his shoulders and the sweats that he was wearing, he could see that Robbe’s shoulders were slumped and stiff. His entire body seemed on edge and his eyes darted across Sander’s entire face and form as he questioned, his voice displaying the tiredness that he felt, “Sander? What are you doing here?” Before Sander could say anything or move to wrap his arms around him, he saw the realization in Robbe’s brown eyes and he let out a string of curses, running his hands over his face, “We were supposed to meet up.” 

“Robbe,” Sander spoke, stepping forward. 

“I’m sorry,” Robbe continued hurriedly, his words partially slurring together as he made a beeline into his bedroom. Like a moth drawn to a flame, Sander followed him, trying to reach out to touch him but Robbe was a step ahead, moving in the direction of his desk where his phone was. “I’ve been studying and I didn’t check the time and-”

“Robbe, you don’t have to apologize,” Sander cut off, stepping forward to hold him in his arms. He wrapped his arms around Robbe’s shoulders, pulling him back against his chest. Robbe let out a sigh, leaning back into his embrace as his head tilted down to look at his phone. From his spot over his shoulder, Sander could see the names of the texts that he had missed and he could feel Robbe get tense beneath his arms. “Baby,” Sander spoke, leaning his cheek against Robbe’s shoulder.

“Hmm?” 

“You need to take a break.” 

“I can’t,” Robbe spoke, dropping his phone down on the desk. It landed on a binder, sliding down until it hit the floor (and thankfully didn’t shatter), but neither one of them moved to pick it up. Robbe moved to his desk, his right hand moving through his notes at a frantic pace, but his other hand moved to overlap with Sander’s hand on his shoulder, gripping onto Sander’s long fingers tightly. “I still have so many notes to look through. Plus, I still need to do the practice problems from three sections and that’s not even counting the review problems I should look back over.”

“Robbe.” 

“And, I have to at least look over the midterms at some point,” Robbe continued, his eyes darting all over the desk in front of him. Sander stepped forward, so their bodies were flushed together, and he could feel Robbe’s body momentarily relax. “He tends to repeat problems so looking over the midterms will help me when he pulls a problem similar to that on the final.” 

“Robbe,” Sander whispered. “How long have you been studying?”

“Since I got home.”

“Which was?”

“Uh, around 11, I think,” Robbe admitted. 

“Baby, it’s past 16:00,” Sander spoke. “You need to take a break or you’re going to overwork that beautiful brain of yours.” 

“But, I can’t stop, Sander!” Robbe spoke, his voice louder. He flinched out of Sander’s arms, his shoulders shaking as he leaned over the desk. His hands gripped tightly onto the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning bone white. Trying to give Robbe the space that he needed, he took a step back but he ran a hand across Robbe’s back, trying to soothe him, trying to offer him some method of comfort. “I can’t stop. I feel like I haven’t learned anything and I can’t remember what to do so I need to study.”

“No,” Sander whispered, running a hand across his back. “You need to take a break.”

“Sander,” Robbe spoke, turning towards him. There were tears prickling the corners of his eyes, tears of frustration, and Sander nearly started weeping at the sight. Robbe was one of the smartest people that Sander had ever known, but to see him doubting himself so drastically, to see him pushing himself so hard that his brain was shutting down, hurt his heart. Robbe continued, his words streaming together, broken and wet, “I can’t stop studying because I don’t understand what’s going on. Every time I look at the page, I feel like I’m finding something else that I don’t understand. It’s like I haven’t seen it before! And, I have a test tomorrow  _ morning _ and I need to do good or I’m not going to pass. At the very least, I need to memorize the formulas so I can use them-”

Robbe cut himself off, a sob ripping through his body. The tears slipped past the rim of his eyes, slipping across his cheekbones and down his jaw. Robbe squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold the rest of them back, to stop himself from crying completely, but Sander stepped forward again, cupping the back of his head and pulling the smaller boy flush against him. 

As soon as Sander’s arms were wrapped tightly around him, another sob was ripped from Robbe’s mouth, his tears starting fresh again, soaking the fabric of his t-shirt. Robbe buried his face into Sander’s shoulder, trying to muffle the sound of his own cries and sputters as Sander tried to soothe him, clinging to the back of Robbe’s head. Robbe’s hands moved to the back of Sander’s t-shirt, gripping it tightly in his hands. He rubbed patterns against the fabric of Robbe’s hoodie, pressed soothing kisses against his jaw and neck, wiped away the tear streaks he could reach, and held him tighter. 

“Get it all out,” Sander whispered, pressing a kiss against his ear.

“I feel like an idiot,” Robbe cried. 

“You’re not an idiot, Robbe,” Sander spoke, his voice a little too firm. He leaned back, taking Robbe’s face in his hands, wiping his thumbs across his cheeks to catch the remaining tears that fell from his cheeks. His boyfriend stared up at him with eyes that were half-closed in tears, his bottom lip trembling. “Your brain is just screaming at you that it’s tired and that you need to give it a break. You’re the most beautiful and smartest man that I’ve ever seen.”

“I bet not like this,” Robbe mumbled, reaching up to rub his eyes. 

“Always,” Sander whispered. “You’re so smart, Robbe. And you know the material. But, if you overload your brain while you’re so tired, you are going to forget important stuff tomorrow. Your body is screaming at you that it needs a break and you need to listen to it.” 

“You’re right,” the smaller boy whispered, leaning forward to press their foreheads together and his brown eyes shutting automatically. Sander wrapped his arms tighter around Robbe, running his hands down his back before tilting them in the direction of the bed. Robbe followed his directions willingly, his arms reaching up to wrap around Sander’s shoulders. Then, the back of his knees hit the bed and they both went tumbling onto the mattress, a light laugh knocked out of Robbe. “What’s your plan?” the brunet whispered, his lips turning up in a grin.

Sander grinned down at him, rolling off of him. Robbe shifted to him, scooting closer to him and grabbing onto his waist to pull Sander’s form closer. Sander chuckled at him, leaning back against one of Robbe’s pillows before turning to him. “We’re going to take a break,” he answered, reaching up to run a hand through Robbe’s hair, freshly cut and short again. Robbe tilted his head back before leaning into Sander’s touch. “For the next hour, until your mom comes back from the grocery store, we’re just going to lie here and not think about homework, okay?”

“Okay,” Robbe mumbled, his eyelids already closing. “And if I go to sleep?”

“Then, you go to sleep,” Sander whispered. “You’ve got this, Robbe. I know you do.” Robbe’s eyes opened again to stare up at him. “You’ve done so much studying over the past few weeks and your body is screaming at you for a break. If you go to sleep, it’s because your brain needs to recharge. When you wake up, you’ll be refreshed and have a little more energy and if you think that you need to study some more, you can study some more.” 

“Can you stay the night?” Robbe whispered.

“Yes,” Sander replied, smiling down at him. “If you want me to, I’ll always stay the night.” 

Robbe smiled up at him before tilting his chin up, a silent message that Sander knew by heart. The blond ducked his head down, pressing their lips together in a slow kiss. Robbe tilted his head to the side so their lips flushed together more smoothly, pulling him closer by his waist. Sander pushed his mouth open with his lips, slipping his tongue into his mouth, cupping the back of his head. Robbe let out a content sigh, pulling back and burying his face in the crook of Sander’s neck. 

“Get some sleep,” Sander whispered, running a hand through his hair. Robbe let out a content sigh against his next. “You can always study more when you wake up, but you need to stop overloading yourself, baby.”

“Alright,” Robbe whispered, his lips ghosting across Sander’s skin. His boyfriend snaked his arms around his torso, bringing them closer together, their bodies and legs intertwined. Sander pulled him closer, one arm wrapped around his shoulders, his hand dropping to Robbe’s thigh to hold him there. 

By the time that Marine IJzermans had returned home, peering around the corner with two bags around her wrist, Robbe had snuggled further into Sander’s chest, still holding onto the black-fabric of his t-shirt. There was a small smile that appeared on his mother’s face as she placed the bag outside of Robbe’s door and stepped inside to check. She smiled down at Sander, who was absentmindedly running a hand through Robbe’s tangled curls, and whispered to him, “Dinner will be ready in about an hour if you want to sleep as well.”

“Thank you,” Sander replied. 

“I assume that you’ll be spending the night as well.”

“Yeah,” Sander spoke, “but only if that’s alright with you.”

“Of course,” Marine spoke, reaching down to rub Robbe’s shoulder. “He always seems to be more relaxed with you around. But, the door remains  _ open _ , okay?” Sander grinned, nodding his head, feeling the blush begin to move to his cheeks. The woman bent down, placing a kiss against Robbe’s head before moving out of the room, collecting the bag and headed into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone. 


End file.
